Furnace of Love

From the Rohrig Tarot, the Ace of Cups; from the Master Tarot, 'The Comet:'

          The companion book describes the Ace of Cups as "love in all its modes of expression." A woman walks into the fiery radiance of such love, offering no resistance. Where there is love, the heart is vulnerable and wears no armor. Whether it's a pet, a child, a spouse, a lover or friend, our heart resonates with their joys and their sorrows. Love can melt us in its furnace, yet it can also transform our heart. It requires us not to become self-absorbed in the emotion so that we lose sight of our connection. The Comet suggests an auspicious time and states that "something is about to pierce through our armor." Sounds like an opening of the heart, but in order to welcome it fearlessly, it might be best to take Sharon Salzberg's advice:

Love is a feeling and it’s what we yearn for, but looking deeper, it’s a capacity within us to care and to want others and ourselves to be free from suffering. We want to have a sense of belonging that’s rightful no matter who we are, and that is an ability within us. If we think of it as a warm fuzzy feeling then it’s in the hands of someone else. I describe it as being beholden to person holding a package on our doorstep who then changes their mind. They’ve gone somewhere else and then there’s no love in our lives. That’s the way we usually think about it. But if we see love as a capacity within ourselves to connect, then people can enliven it, enrich it or threaten it but no one is giving it to us. Or taking it away.

Slicing and Dicing

From the Tabula Mundi Tarot, the Queen of Swords; from the Universe Cards, Comet:

          Don't let the winged child-like face mislead you about this queen's purpose; it represents a cherub, a guardian of superhuman strength and devoid of emotions. The severed head illustrates how this queen feels about entertaining fools, con men or sugared tongues. Her sharp perception and penetrating insight is what helps people see the truth, and she'll readily slice up some egos (and slice off their masks) to do it. Her goal is to push people toward enlightenment, which is often an uncomfortable process. In the words of Adyashanti, "The path of awakening is not about positive emotions. On the contrary, enlightenment may not be easy or positive at all. It is not easy to have our illusions crushed. It is not easy to let go of long-held perceptions. We may experience great resistance to seeing through even those illusions that cause us a great amount of pain." The Comet card has been assigned the keyword 'transition,' a term that suggests adapting to change when things happen 'out of the blue.' Sometimes we have to first peek at reality, then gradually open our eyes all the way to the whole truth.

Caught in the Flow

From the Victoria Regina Tarot, the Magician; from the Universe Cards, "Comet:"

          This guy makes me think of a professor giving a lecture. I've had teachers who do nothing more than grind out facts and figures, all "telling" and no "showing." Their classes were tedious and exhausting, and though I memorized much, I retained little. I left every day feeling much like one of the Magician's dried out bugs pinned to a board. No matter what the profession or hobby, you can always tell when a person's passion is in it. If so, what they create or do fills them with an intense fervor; they find themselves in the "zone," and what flows from them seems effortless and magical.
          Comets are a mix of ice and dust, "leftovers" from the formation of our Solar System. They only becomes visible when they pass close to the sun and heat up, causing them them to emit a stream of gas and dust. Stopforth assigns this card the keyword "transition," because this celestial body has a period of being unseen until it is captured by the sun's gravity. I can see a parallel between this period and the time the Magician spends practicing. At first what he does seems forced and awkward, but eventually his performance smooths out. Like the comet caught in the sun's gravitational field, he eventually finds himself "in the zone." No use trying to rush the process.  

Mark of Existence

This week I'll be using the Ship of Fools Tarot, a deck and book set created by Brian Williams and published by Llewellyn. The oracle book and deck set I'll be using is the Wisdom of the Four Winds, created by Barry Brailsford and Cecilie Okada and published by StonePrint Press. Today's cards are Death and "Comet:"

 That nothing is static or fixed, that all is fleeting and impermanent, is the first mark of existence. It is the ordinary state of affairs. Everything is in process. Everything—every tree, every blade of grass, all the animals, insects, human beings, buildings, the animate and the inanimate—is always changing, moment to moment. ~ Pema Chodron

As the fool anticipates taking his bouquet to his lady friend, Death pulls on his tunic and says, "Excuse me sir, but we have a pressing appointment." Isn't that how change is? We're skipping merrily along and suddenly get blindsided. We refuse to acknowledge impermanence because we superstitiously think we might cause it to happen, when in fact it occurs anyway. We create our own suffering by living this way; we refuse to accept change and demand that it shouldn't happen to us. Is it wrong to feel sad, worried or angry when we lose a job, a loved one or hear bad news? I don't think so - that's only human. But we'll never find permanent security in a world that is constantly changing. Perhaps we could take Chodron's advice:

But rather than being disheartened by the ambiguity, the uncertainty of life, what if we accepted it and relaxed into it? What if we said, “Yes, this is the way it is; this is what it means to be human,” and decided to sit down and enjoy the ride? 

The Comet, with its sudden appearance and the excitement it causes, fits perfectly with Death. Brailsford suggests it brings tidings of hope and joyful, new beginnings. Yet if I want to receive the good things to come, I'm going to have to unclench my fists and release what was. 

Uncovering and Transitioning

The card drawn today from the Quantum Tarot is the Ace of Swords:

Scientists distinguish between four types of forces acting among particles: strong, weak, electromagnetic, and gravitational.  Particles transmit these forces among each other by exchanging bosons.  To understand this energy transfer, imagine the passing of a basketball between two players on skates.  The pass will cause both the thrower and receiver to be pushed in opposite directions.  In this analogy, the players are the fundamental particles, the ball is the force carrier (boson), and the push backward is the force.  The W and Z bosons that carry the weak force are associated with the Ace of Swords, and cause heavy particles to decay into smaller particles.  It seems a bit strange to connect this Ace with a force that causes decay, until I think of those moments when some truth has been uncovered and I see with fresh eyes.  Once seen and understood, it is impossible to operate blindly under an illusion anymore.  The sharp clarity of this sword cuts away the lies, transforms my ideas and perception, and thus enables a change in my behavior.

     Today the card chosen from the Universe Cards is the "Comet - transition:"

A comet is a mix of ice and dust that forms from leftover planet formation in a solar system.  It only becomes visible when the sun melts the ice, and the comet emits a stream of gas and dust (the familiar head and tail).  The comet represents the disruption of the routine in our lives.  Stopforth writes, "Experiencing transition is an essential part of adapting to the changes in our lives, and we may need to make extra allowances for ourselves during such times.  If we try to carry on regardless, we will only end up prolonging the period of transition and making the whole experience more negative and uncomfortable."